Monday Inspirations—Here are 3 weekly ideas for song lyric, poems, instrumental titles, photos, video, short story or anything they inspire you to create.  Use the title if you like & make something! 

13.  Menopause Relapse - This goes into Adult Contemporary about a woman who thinks she is grown up but suffers a menopause relapse and makes adolescent choices that reek havoc on the world.
14.  When Dreams Get Ugly - The other morning I woke & told K. - “Wow, I was just dreaming my dead mother was chopping off the sunflower heads with a nail file and the devil was collecting them and laughing hideously as he ate the seeds and spit the shells at me.”  Well, it wasn’t quite like that but then I said “I’d rather be in this world than that world” and I got up.

15.  3 Forevers - A special love gave me this one.  She said it will take - 3 Forevers - She used it as a measure of time.  I wrote her a poem and titled it 3 Forevers.  You’ll be my friend for - 3 Forevers.  I love you BRR~ 

Here is an article from Ruth Ratny’s ReelChicago e-newsletter.  What gets me is the claim - networks are dead.  The Internet is the new media outlet.  WOW!  And there’s lots of Internet.  Lots of people/companies/Indie projects needing songs. 

We need a group of go-to songwriters who can create song material quickly.  Songwriters/artists with radio quality recording equipment that can lay vocal tracks over backing tracks in hours.  If that’s you, shoot us an e-mail and we’ll chat.  ~ R

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 ‘Always accept a beverage when offered’
Laurie Scheer advises on how to ace a pitch session

There will be thousands of visual media outlets in the next few years, said “media goddess” Laurie Scheer, talking to filmmakers eager to learn first-hand from this Hollywood insider in our midst at last Saturday’s IFP conference

With the proliferation of outlets providing so many opportunities to sell content, “you must think beyond the traditional 60- to 90-minute format,” she asserted.

“Networks are dead,” she proclaimed. “You must think online, because that’s where it’s going to be.”

Scheer, who has been teaching at Flashpoint Academy this year, is preaching the gospel of multiplatforms — matching content ideas with multiple outlet opportunities in order to sell your project.

“Know that your content is needed,” she said. “Know that whatever cable show is doing well, say on the Discovery Channel, be assured the producers are looking for companion pieces.”

In order to pitch like a pro, you have to know what’s going on in the ever-changing marketplace, Scheer’s strongest advice is to research.

“It’s all there on the internet. Read the weekend box office grosses, learn who the leaders are, what topics or stories are selling right now,” she urged. “Your idea must resonate with the current culture.” A good place to look for trend is, in all places, the Wall Street Journal.

The reason for all this homework? “So you won’t look like an idiot when you get a chance to pitch.”

And when you are in the producer’s office pitching your idea, “Present yourself as the only one who could be attached to this project. You’re the expert.

“Tell them what your involvement in the production will be. Do you want to sell the idea? Direct, produce? You know what you know, and they know you know what you want.”

Your pitch must be down pat,” she said. “You must speak with authority, anticipate questions about the project and have different versions of your pitch ready.”

In addition, at the session you will need a one page synopsis and a short 3-5-minute trailer on what your show is about.

Scheer then offered a piece of advice you don’t get in books. “When offered a beverage, take it. Then be very specific about how you want it. ‘I’ll take a decaf latte with soy milk,’” as a way to display your confidence.

Scheer’s advice comes from many years in the forefront of cable programming. She was VP/programming for WE Women’s Entertainment, and developed and produced shows for other cable companies.

Scheer is the pitching coach at NATPE’s convention and L.A. TV festival and will speak at the upcoming NAB on multi-platform and digital marketing.

In addition to teaching at high level colleges, she is a mainstay of Media Bistro seminars. You can catch Scheer in action May 6 at a Media Bistro seminar on “How to Write for Online,” at the Theatre Building, 7-10 p.m. See mediabistro.com/courses/cache/instr176.asp. —Ruth L Ratny

This in an excerpt pg. -36-37- from an enlightening book by Julia Cameron titled Walking in This World - The Practical Art of Creativity:

     All of us need and require accurate Believing Mirrors.  Believing Mirrors reflect us as large and competent creatively.  They mirror possibility, not improbability.  They ignore “the odds” against us.  These mirrors are held by people large enough and expansive enough spiritually not to threatened by the size and grandeur of another artist shaking out his sizable wings.  When I was twenty-two and a fledgling artist, veteran literary agent Sterling Lord took me on.  The same year, William McPherson, who later won a Pulitzer of his own, hired me to write for him at The Washington Post.  These men saw something, and all artists tell stories like mine of older artists who “mysteriously” gambled on them.

     As artists, we are often grateful and indebted to those who help us know the things we know.  An unhappy violist encounters an older composer who suggest a possible affinity for arranging.  An arranging career sprouts wings.  A singing teacher tells a young pianist, “Don’t sing, play!”  A photo-shop owner tells a farmer’s wife, “You’ve got quite an eye.  I wonder what you could do with a real camera.”  The answer is “Be a phtographer,” and the answer, like the film itself, develops over time when exposed to the right encouragement.

     Sometimes our encouragement bubbles up unexpectedly in the passing interest of a neighbor, an art-supply clerk, an elderly aunt.  Sometimes we come across a magazine article or book, catch a half hour of talk radio in our area of interest, run across a video or an Internet site specializing in our interest.  We also experience a phenomenon that I call “inner support.”  This is an insistent and private inner knowing that tells us we are meant to be, do, or try something - even when there appears to be no outer support.”

Every monday I’m going to give you 3 creative ideas for any project that might tickle your fancy.  Need a friendly muse - come by and read them.

Monday Inspirations—Here are 3 monthly ideas for song lyric, poems, instrumental titles, photos, video, short story or anything they inspire you to create.  Use the title if you like & make something! 

1. The Hidden Factors—Hidden factors are emotions/thoughts/events you get from making a certain decision.  There are hidden factors walking in an ice storm.

2. Mama Crow—When I strip chicken skins or cook a turkey, I throw the scraps outside for Mama Crow.  She’s a big black crow that has little baby crows.  We’ve got a children’s song titled Mama Bird if you need one.

3. The Dosage—Do you watch TV, take pharmaceuticals, alcohol, smoke, toke, flirt, text message, etc = what’s your dosage baby!!!  Are you a love junkie?  What is the dosage that gets you off.

Thursday, February 12, 2009 

iTunes streaming service rumored Category: Music Apple is believed to be wrapping up a new feature in iTunes 8 that will allow users to stream their iTunes video purchases directly from the company’s servers for playback anywhere, anytime without eating up local storage. Dubbed iTunes Replay, the service would allow iTunes shoppers to build out their digital video collection without worrying about the space needed to store the often hefty media files. It’s unclear whether Apple plans to charge for the service, which is said to support both iTunes Movie and TV show purchases. One of the main complaints users have with video purchases on iTunes is that they are forced to either throw away their files after watching them, or find a place to store the large files either on their hard drive or by burning them to DVDs. By storing their video content for them and allowing users to stream it for viewing as often as they want, Apple would essentially be offering a media center alternative. iTunes Reply on other devices The iTunes Replay service could also improve the experience of the company’s Apple TV set top box, allowing users to stream purchased media directly from Apple’s servers without ever syncing or copying files between Apple TV and a computer running iTunes, and without filling up the devices’ limited hard drive space, which currently tops out at 160 GB. The ability to stream purchased content directly would also benefit users of mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPod touch, which have an even greater limit on local storage capacity but already have the ability to stream QuickTime content directly over the air. Amazon’s Video on Demand (formerly known as UnBox) and the Instant Watch service from Netflix already provide video streaming, but both involve DRM hurdles erected by the studios that complicate the experience, as they are typically viewed through a web browser (although Amazon has an appliance partner deal with Tivo, and Netflix has partnered with Roku and the Xbox 360). Apple’s mobile devices, iTunes and Apple TV already accommodate the DRM protection the studios demand for playback of their content, meaning that no new layers of complication are necessary. Additionally, Apple has a wider selection of video content to choose from in iTunes. The disadvantage to streaming video content rather than playing it from a downloaded file is that users will need to maintain high quality Internet bandwidth throughout playback, or face interruption as the stream is buffered. Streaming playback of HD content also typically requires better than DSL (1.5 Mbps) service. If Apple continues to offer both downloads as well as streaming video on demand, it will remain differentiated from streaming-only services like Netflix Watch Instantly in that users on a slower Internet connection will be able to download HD titles in advance and watch them via local playback, or even unplug their Apple TV and bring it and their downloaded content to a location without Internet service for viewing. Apple gearing up for new streaming traffic iTunes Replay would arrive on the heels of last month’s report that Apple has shifted its online content delivery strategy to include a provider in Limelight Networks, joining longtime Apple partner Akamai Technologies. Having two different providers could help greatly optimize the delivery of streaming content to the millions of customers who use iTunes. Frost & Sullivan analyst Dan Rayburn connected the change to Apple’s booming digital download business, which he said is growing at a “crazy” rate. “We already know that no CDN [content delivery network] has unlimited capacity and can only handle so much traffic at any given time,” Rayburn said. “If you are Apple, using more than one CDN is just smart business.” Source: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/02/11/apple_prepping_itunes_replay_ on_demand_video_service.html

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Video is here to stay.  Shoot your band or yourself performing at
as many venues as you can.  These videos have marketing potential. 
We are signing videos into our new video catalog so contact us if
you have some.  We’d love to view your work.

The Future: letter from Bob Lefsetz

There’s too much music made by too many people and performers are frustrated they’re broke and listeners are completely overwhelmed. What’s going to happen?

Hit music will survive. Even if the definition of a hit is a shadow of its former self. There won’t be as many sales, few people will even be aware of the track and the act will not be able to tour, or, if so, very briefly (did you catch the gross for the Jonas Brothers movie…ALREADY has-beens?)

Making it is so difficult that most “musicians” give up very early in the process. It’s easy to write and record a song and distribute it. Everything that was difficult yesterday is easy today. You just fire up GarageBand, select some loops, create a track and upload the result to MySpace and you’re an “artist”!

Well, no. You’re someone who’s recorded a track that most people don’t care about, probably because it sucks. But what if it’s good?

It almost definitely isn’t. But, if it were, most people STILL wouldn’t care, because they’re not aware of it. So, we’ve got two halves of the pie, quality and awareness.

Let’s start with quality. You can be a supernova like Picasso, incredibly good from the start. But it’s almost impossible. Usually you’ve got to experiment, practice, go down the road to dead ends until you finally come up with something good. And most people don’t have the patience for this process. Everybody wants instant fame. And instant riches. And it’s easier than ever to be instantly famous, but it doesn’t pay well. You can be on a reality TV show and be broke and working as a waitress. Furthermore, fame doesn’t possess the ogle value it used to. We make fun of the famous. As for riches…they’re almost unreachable. Which is why most “artists” give up.

It was easier in the nineties. The formula was simple. If you were incredibly cute or beautiful you got a record label to sign you and put a ton of money behind you, filming an expensive video for ubiquitous airplay on MTV and paying radio stations to play your record. The system was easy to figure out. Even though there was a winnowing process, which frequently had little to do with musical talent. Today? If you can get a label interested, they want to pay less and own more and success is a fraction of what it once was. Which is why if you want to be rich and famous you start a Website. Unless you’re truly a musician.

A true musician HAS to play. The money is secondary. As is fame. Sure, you want both, but you’ve got no choice. And now, with the field separated so clearly between the wannabes and the true devotees, we can start to see the future of the music industry. Those who see themselves as musicians are going to practice and play for Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours, building an audience all along the way, and eventually a great portion of the rest of the public is going to wake up and pay attention.

Mutt Lange started off doing sound-alike records. Reg Dwight recorded demos. So many of the stars of yore paid incredible dues. So when they were finally foisted upon the marketplace we were stunned by their talent. “Your Song”? A classic still performed today. A Jonas Brothers track? That’s an exercise in finance, based on marketing. Just like no one wants Hanson anymore, in a few years the Jonas Brothers will be a nostalgia item that does a fraction of their present business. The boys have got experience in promotion, in acting, but in music? Their musical history is very brief, they’ve got very little in the way of chops. Rather than practicing in their basement, they’re busy performing in throwaway Disney pics.

You don’t have to be thirty to get enough experience. Those piano lessons your parents make you take count. As do all those rehearsals in the aforementioned basement. And no matter how good your musical skills, performing is a separate talent completely. Like an NBA player with enough games under his belt not to choke in the playoffs, you’ve got to perform enough to be able to hit every note and keep the audience in the palm of your hand. So when people drag their friends to your show, they’re mesmerized.

Everything you hated is essentially gone. Looks-based music. Formulaic radio. Usual suspect writers and producers. They all still exist, but suddenly they’re the sideshow. The real money is in the bands that play live. But people really only want to see the dinosaurs in quantity, because they’ve been at it so long that they’ve not only got a catalog of great tunes, they’re great on stage.

Walk into the wilderness with me. If you believe in yourself, you’re never going to give up, you’re going to play until you make it. And believe me, if you put in all that time and no one is paying attention you will give up, that life is just too frustrating. But if you’ve got talent, you’ll see signposts along the way, enough positive feedback to keep you going.

So, maybe we’ll have a vibrant music scene in the future. When the old game plays down to nothing (and Terra Firma just wrote down their EMI investment), and the new music-based acts have enough hours/time/practice/performance under their belt to gain a head of steam. Instead of being worked on a track by a street-teamer looking to get ahead, a true friend will hip you to something that blows your mind to the point where you’ll have to tell everybody else you know.

The opportunities are not only in playing, there are giant holes in infrastructure as well. These new acts need managers. Organizations akin to labels to run their businesses. Even concert promoters to believe in them and showcase them live. None of the old farts want anything to do with these developing acts, because the payday is so far away, and a trickle at first.

We could be on the verge of a renaissance. But it could take five years to start to come clear and ten to burst into a supernova. Practice, practice, practice. If you’re truly good, you’ll find an audience. But remember, it won’t happen instantly and you’ll struggle as opposed to living the high life. You’ll be driving a rickety old van as opposed to flying first class. But when the money starts to come in, it will POUR!

Yes, you want to get paid. But even more, you want people who are touched by your original music, who NEED to go to the show. Which will be cheap. Because you’ll want a big tent, you’ll want to include everybody. That’s the Net ethos. The old boys are about being exclusionary, whereas today’s kids know everybody else in their entire town!

The audience is waiting. Listeners want something great to pop up on their radar, that they can believe in. It’s human nature. Think of listeners, not executives or gatekeepers. You can write the script. We’re ready for you!

Source:

Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/

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Everybody can write poetry.  They teach us that in grade school.  Anybody
can write a song.  

If that song releases some pent up emotion or demon or lovely feeling,
then writing the song is a good thing.  I do agree songwriters and
performing artists need to practice, practice, practice.  And I also
believe the cream rises to the top.

So keep at it and your songs will improve just as you performance skills
improve.

~ Roberta  

Guilherme Schroeter is an award winning classically trained pianist from Brazil.  He is on our Creative staff and helps out when we need some compositional critique & suggestions.  He recently took up residency in Los Angeles.  Here is an interview with Mr. Schroeter taken from his agent’s website.

March 1, 2009 - Sunday 

SCHROETER IN LOS ANGELES !!!! (INTERVIEW)   We talk directly from Los Angeles, the ”mecca” of the entertainment Mr Schroeter is our guest, and we try introduce him into many venues. Mr Schroeter, what you feel about been in Los Angeles? - I feel very honored to be on this fantastic city. I attended to the Hollywood music awards, where i was so warmly received, and also I want congratulate with the fantastic organization of the event. You guys are awesome! Is your first time here? - Yes, is the first time I come here What artists that impressed you more? - I love to be in awesome jazz bars, and what impressed me is a Jazz band called “SANTANA BROTHERS”. Mr. Santana played his vibraphone with great skills, and all musicians very skilled in play Latino Jazz, New bossa, and standard jazz. Was a great moment to me when I talked with him, ever for brief moments. He is (as well all band musicians) certainly a legend, a great musician.  What your plans, here in Los Angeles? - My plan is meet musicians, show my music and collaborate in many fields that i currently work, like film (i wrote 40 themes for film) , pop (more than 150 songs in diferent styles) and classical (224 works already produced right now) What places you visited / played that most impressed you? - CHATEAU MARMONT have an excelent Piano.I played many songs (film, classical and more)  and the people enjoyed so much.  Also CROWNE hotel have a nice piano, amazing. When i start play the room was empty, but after I play people started come to listen me. Was a great moment. Very impressed with the HOLLYWOOD BOWL, is a excelent venue to perform. But what really I enjoyed was perform my songs on WELCOME CAFE, A ESPECIAL MOMENT TO ME. The lady that manages the place was very nice, as well the artist that performs there. I found many talented artists in Los Angeles, as well many jazz bars /grills with nice comunity and well organized to show great music, like  Jax Bar & Grill,  Vibrato Grill Jazz and Steamer’s Jazz Club Thanks mr Schroeter for this opportunity - Welcome   Ana Maria Suazo is Award winning Manager, critic, promoter, producer, webmaster

February 15, 2009

We’ve Found Our Specialty 

Songs2Share staff agree that we are now a song licensing company focused on LOVE SONGS!!!  Everybody sings them.  A lot of movies use them.  So we are seeking them out and will be known in the industry as the best love songwriters in town.  Check your song catalogs songwriters+  Everyone has a love song or two.  Visit the website, LOGIN and upload your love song submission.  We’ll e-mail you when we receive them.

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A Songs2Share Celebration

We just finished up negotiations with the Robert’s Gym Board, in Roberts Illinois = and they are very happy to have S2S hold our first concert in their building!   Mark your calendars for June 28, 2009.  We’ll be closing out the Roberts celebration of Ford County’s 150th birthday. We are also exploring the idea of small house jams.  We have a staffer who wants to do drumming circles and this will help keep her entertained!

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VIDEO

Apple is believed to be wrapping up a feature in iTunes 8 that will allow users to stream their iTunes video purchases directly from the company’s servers for playback anywhere without eating up your own storage space.  =  We’ve added video to our marketing program.  Videotape everything.  Buy a good camera.  Video is here and very saleable!
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New Songwriter ~ Annie Jackson is working a song with S2S.

Josh at Ji! Designs made us a great animated banner and is now working  a header/banner for our MySpace sites. 

Thanks and a hug to each one of you.   

Songs2Share is very proud to present our first videotaped performance.  Please enjoy = Daddy Please.

We have made our first music video and need someone to help us post it here at our blog.  Please send us a wiz!    LOGIN at the website and access our FULL Media catalog.

Roberta,  Founder,  www.Songs2Share.com